Buck Knives
A Family Tradition For Over 100 Years
Buck Knives traces its direct lineage back over 100 years to a blacksmith shop in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Buck Knives are part of the fabric of American history, or you might say they have helped cut a good part of it. The storied American knife manufacturer has a 123-year reputation built on a foundation of legacy, authenticity and craftsmanship, all a direct result of a deep family tradition. During our recent trip to Post Falls, Idaho, to experience the Buck magic at their factory, I came away with a new appreciation for these legendary blades.
The Buck Knives factory move from San Diego to Post Falls, Idaho where they recently celebrated
20 years in the "new" factory. Photo Provided
History
The company’s origins trace back to 1902 when 13-year-old blacksmith apprentice Hoyt Buck in Leavenworth, Kansas, used a worn-out farrier’s rasp as raw material to build his first knife. He kept at the craft and along the way he also learned the critical secrets of heat-treating steel in order to hold a sharper edge longer.
Using worn-out files and buggy springs, Hoyt kept crafting knives by hand. He also had a bit of wanderlust and ended up building knives as a sideline in the basement of the Assembly of God Church in Mountain Home, Idaho, where he was pastor.
Knifemaking continued essentially as a hobby until World War II, when Hoyt responded to the U.S. military’s call for fixed-blade knives. His knives quickly gained a reputation for quality among GIs, and after the war, he moved to San Diego in 1946 to join his son Al Buck to establish H.H. Buck & Son.
The Buck factory is a beehive of activity and requires a workforce of committed
and highly-skilled employees with a wide range of talents.
Tempering is a critical part of the knife building process and an art at which Buck has always excelled.
In fact, they’re so skilled that Buck heat-treats for other blade manufacturers.
The business was modest, with the workshop initially located in their one-bedroom house’s garage and later expanded into a lean-to built from materials scavenged along the railroad tracks. As the Buck men made knives, Hoyt’s wife Daisy did the books and built sheaths at the kitchen table.
After Hoyt’s death in 1949, Al continued the business, and it grew slowly in San Diego until it eventually incorporated as Buck Knives, Inc. in 1961. Al introduced a lifetime guarantee — which stands yet today — and launched national advertising campaigns.
Things were moving along steadily, but everything changed in 1964 when Buck introduced the Model 110 Folding Hunter. This knife featured a strong lockback mechanism and a durable clip-point blade, which offered the strength of a fixed-blade knife in a portable folding design. It literally changed the entire knife industry overnight and remains one of the most popular knives ever made, with over 15 million sold, along with countless knock-offs and counterfeits.
If you can dream it, Buck can build it. Here a tray of custom fixed blades gets the finishing touches.
The stampings leftover from knife blade production. They used to recycle this steel but now they sell large sheets
of it at the factory. People have used it for wall decoration, stair rails, fire pits and even barbeque grills!
The Model 110’s success built Buck Knives’ reputation as an industry leader, and the term “buck knife” became synonymous with folding hunting knives. If you ask virtually any outdoors enthusiast over the age of 40, he or she has likely owned a Buck 110 at some point.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Buck Knives expanded its product line and facilities. Chuck Buck, Al’s son, became CEO in 1979 and led the company through further innovation, including the introduction of the Buckmaster survival knife and the M9 Bayonet for the U.S. military.
In 1999, Chuck’s son CJ Buck became the fourth-generation leader of the company. Under his leadership, Buck Knives fled the anti-business climate in California to Post Falls, Idaho, in 2005. The move allowed the company to modernize its manufacturing plant and reduce costs while maintaining its commitment to American craftsmanship.
Today, Buck Knives remains a family-owned business, with pickup-truck-driving CJ Buck serving as CEO and Chairman. The company continues to produce a wide range of knives for hunting, fishing, survival, and everyday use. While some components are sourced globally, the majority of Buck’s knives are still made in the U.S. at the Post Falls plant.
The Buck Factory offers tours and the newly remodeled factory story is a required stop for all knife enthusiasts.
Brand Loyalty
As Chris Bourassa, director of marketing, noted, “Buck is a brand people have trusted for generations.” With the Buck lifetime guarantee, the company essentially views their customers as part of an ongoing relationship rather than a traditional buyer/seller association.
The concept of family also runs deeper than just mission statements and PR hype. Many members of the management team have some type of connection to the Buck lineage, such as Tony Wagner, the community marketing coordinator and historian at Buck. He married into the Buck family and quips, “I wanted a Buck knife, I got a Buck wife, and now I live the Buck Life.” He’s certainly “living the dream,” as they say.
The plant tour was fascinating. A top-to-bottom facility, the components, such as rolls of steel and elk antlers, come through the loading dock and eventually emerge as fully finished knives. They even make their own screws and pins, as Buck found that they could hold tolerances better, keep costs down, and maintain a more robust supply chain by doing it themselves.
Rolls of American-made steel will soon be turned into a knife blades.
Need a grinding wheel? If you borrow one from Buck, you’ll probably need a bigger grinder.
Factory Floor
As you might imagine, the process of literally hammering and grinding your way into a finished knife requires a considerable amount of skill. Bourassa noted it takes about 3 years for an employee to become fully trained as they work their way up the ladder into more intricate and challenging processes. Considering a couple of Buck employees recently retired after 40 years in the factory, it must be a pretty good place to work!
Buck is still known for its top-notch heat-treating — even doing contract work for other well-known knife makers — but all they would divulge is the fact that butter plays a part! Famed Buck heat-treating expert Paul Bos retired in 2010, but his company, Paul Bos Heat-treating Services, continues to play a part in the process at the factory.
The most interesting “work cell” was the warranty department. Here, various worn-out, mutilated, beat-up old Buck knives come in for service. The company will replace the knife if things are too far gone, but in most cases, they try to repair it because they recognize the emotional attachment the owner has with the blade. In this cell, the most experienced workers in the company disassemble the blade, lovingly fix or refit parts, give it a thorough cleanup and sharpening, then return it.
On the workbench, you’ll see some of the sorriest examples of dilapidated knives you could ever imagine. However, the experts take this daily collection of catastrophes as a personal challenge, and the majority of knives go back to their owners looking close to factory-new, but with a few “character” marks still evident.
The “Hard Luck Bucks” are a display of knives the experts couldn’t fix.
The backstories here are undoubtedly fascinating — and horrifying to knife lovers.
Near the workbench is a display of “Hard Luck Bucks.” These are the ones where a new knife was the only solution to a terminal blade disability, and while the display is intriguing, it would also drive a knife aficionado to tears.
The Latest
One of the secrets of Buck’s business is that they “Don’t chase trends,” according to Bourassa. Their in-house engineering and design team looks for general developments in the market and, after an in-depth discussion, comes up with new products or redesigns to keep things fresh.
The latest from Buck for 2025 is the Range series. Coming in two trim levels — the higher-priced Elite and lower-cost Pro — and two sizes, it is a nod to modern everyday carry trends. In fact, it is the first use of a crossbar locking system in a Buck knife.
Pins and parts and pieces and such are destined to become knives in the Buck factory.
The New Buck Range Elite with MagnaCut steel blade and gray aluminum handle.
A crossbar lock incorporates an ambidextrous button to lock/unlock the blade, along with a thumb stud. This allows a quick flick of the wrist for one-handed opening.
Both trim levels are offered in a 2.624” and 3.375” blade. The Elite versions use MagnaCut steel, a modern (and trendy) super-steel often used in higher-end blades, and 154CM steel in the Pro version. The Elite series offers anodized slab matte-finish aluminum handles while the Pro series uses glass-filled nylon (something known as GFN Polymer, jokingly called “Gluten Free Nylon” by Buck staffers). Handles are available in black, gray and green.
The people who put these together on the production line are wizards. I make this statement after having built my own Range Elite knife in the company conference room. For someone who is naturally “thumby” it was a challenging process, but seeing the design features and quality components that go into the knife inspired confidence — even though the name itself was already enough.
The scattered pieces of a new Buck Range Elite before Brent put it together. The process required the help
of several Buck staffers but their skilled production personnel can do it in under a minute.
Assembling Buck knives requires speed but more importantly, a deft hand and a discerning eye for quality.
Frankly, I came away from this trip as a committed fanboy of Buck Knives. After seeing the genuine care that goes into every facet of production, it’s easy to see why Buck has earned its reputation as a maker of solid, sharp, durable knives that stand the test of time. They aren’t the flashiest or most expensive knives on the market, but if you want craftsmanship and solid, pass-it-along-to-your-grandson quality from a company and brand who are easy to embrace, I’d suggest taking a look at Buck Knives.
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